If you live in Thanet and receive domiciliary care
through social services you could hardly fail to be aware of the controversial
change that came into effect last year, 2014.
Home care in Thanet, like home care throughout Kent, is provided by a
number of private companies. Until last year, many of these companies would have
provided home care under contract with Kent County Council (KCC). Prior to June
2, 2014, KCC worked with over 120 providers throughout Kent. From 2 June 2014, that
number fell to 23. In Thanet, the number fell to just 3 home care providers.
You can see the providers for each area in Kent here.
There can be little doubt that local authorities throughout the country
were looking at the Kent experiment. If it was successful and saved money, you
can bet that something similar would be adopted all over the place. It would
appear, though, that things have not gone quite as well as might have been hoped.
When the experiment in Kent was being implemented there were many voices
warning that this might not be an especially good move. One particularly
prescient voice was Bridget Warr’s from the UKHCA. She is on record
as saying that her concern was “… that
what we’ll end up with is vulnerable people not getting the support they need
at the time they need it.”
Today, 28 May 2015, The Thanet Gazette has
reported that KCC has decided to cease working with one of its three chosen
providers in Thanet when the current contract comes to an end on 1 June
2015. Amongst other things, it is said
that a significant amount of negative feedback has been received about this
particular provider. You can read the Thanet Gazette report here.
Many social services customers are under the
impression that they have no choice but to have their care delivered to them by
the company that KCC chooses for them. This is not the case. Anyone who receives
social services funding is entitled to receive a direct payment. I have written
about this extensively in previous articles that you can find here,
here
and here.
What direct payments mean is that you are given a sum of money that allows you
to buy your home care from a provider of your choice. And there is plenty of
choice in Thanet.
Not everyone will want the responsibility of
taking control of buying their home care: but many will. Under normal
circumstances, if you receive financial support from KCC for your home care you
have a right to have direct payments. All you have to do is ask. Direct
payments put you in control. You choose your home care provider. If that
provider does not deliver a quality service you go somewhere else. In most
cases, that has to be a very good thing indeed.
If you want advice about direct payments or any aspects of domiciliary care, do not hesitate to contact me.
Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.
